Adventures in Finland, the Kitchen and the Sewing Room

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Monthly Archives: September 2013

It’s been a bit quiet here lately (except for the tribute to Voyager). This is largely due to an exam I had to study for. With that out of the way (I passed), I’m now back. While I didn’t blog, I did sew, but that’s for another post. Right now, I thought I’d show a bit more of my (not so new anymore) home. First of all, I got some lovely gifts from friends and family in Italy and Switzerland:

Today Is Super! – Thank you again Seraina!

The book I got from a dear friend in Switzerland. It’s a diary with many cheerful and happy suggestions of what to do with your day and then record it. I just love the positive attitude, not to mention the stickers! I also got a colourful notebook with inspirational quotes from a dear friend from Spain, but forgot to take a picture, as it resides in my purse. Thanks Esti!

In the picture above you can also see these weird jewelery-like pendants. These are glass markers so you don’t accidently take someone else’s drink, themselves made of fused glass. Aren’t they fabulous? My mum gave them to me after she found them in one of my Granddad’s cupboards. My Grandma must have bought or gotten them when they set up home in the 1950’s.

This next one is from PB’s mother:

Does This Look Familiar?

When I saw this motto in a coffee shop on O’ahu I felt that it describes my morning attitude quite adequately. I asked the owner if they sold it, but they didn’t. So it was a very nice surprise when I saw this hanging in our room in PB’s parent’s house! I feel very welcomed by PB’s family, especially because they know of my not so nice sides and still (miraculously) seem to like me. So grazie mille Maria!

Somehow the kitchen didn’t feel complete. But now with a table and chairs it feels like a place I can spend time with people while cooking. And that makes it a perfect kitchen. The other item I want to show is in the bathroom, which is still far from being perfect. But here goes:

A Towel Shelf! How Exciting (not)!

So that’s the apartment part of the renewed tour of the place I now consider home. What I also want to show, is the city itself. Now, that’s not so easy, as it’s more like separate and quite diverse neighbourhoods dotted among the woods. I’ve already showed the woods, so here are some impressions of the city parts I most visit:

Keskusta – The city center

This is the view on the main shopping street (foto taken a few weeks ago when it was still warm). I like how lively it is on sunny days. In that respect the Finns and the Swiss are the same: as soon as there is a beam of sun, everybody heads out, as you never know how long it will last. What I also like about the city center is that all the shopping happens inside malls. Why I like that? Simple: I just don’t get tempted to shop! So I get less unneccesary stuff and also waste less time organising and cleaning it at home. Win!

Next up, the “piazza” in front of the supermarket we shop at most often:

K- and S-Markets – Always neighbours

Functional is what is needed in this context, not beauty. I am, however, amazed that you would put this huge space in front of a supermarket (it’s not a parking lot). But that’s probably my Swiss self that is used to the lack of horizontal space. It feels nice to have so much breathing space. Usually, if there aren’t any houses, there are trees. So from far away the neighbourhoods look like this:

Our Neighbourhood – seen from opposite the lake

Today it has started snowing. However, the ground is not cold yet, as up to Friday we had around 15°-17°C. So I guess we’re in for a cold yet slushy Autumn. Argh! But let’s hope I’m wrong. Let’s hope it will turn out like last year:

I have a confession to make. As a teenager I was a Trekki. I loved to watch the adventures in outer space and the new and exciting worlds that were portrayed. I watched all the series and films (it helped that my step-brother had all of them on vhs).

While now I cannot watch an episode without laughing loud and hard at the technobabble, the fascination with outer space has remained with me. So when nishi of nishiink! mentioned on her blog that Voyager 1 has left the solar system I was very excited! After a bit of chatting we decided to dedicate a space themed garment to Voyager 1 in celebration of this event. If you want to see hers as well as an description of what the Voyager probes are about, hop on over. Here is my make:

The Nebula Shirt

I had bought this fabric over a year ago back in Switzerland. I was shopping for nothing specific at the Bernina store in Winterthur, when I saw two sales clerks ooohing and aaahing over this fabric. I couldn’t help but join them. Unfortunately, I only got about 70cm as it cost an arm and a leg. Luckily that was just enough for a self drafted sleeveless cowl neck shirt.

Some of the longer term readers might already know that I am obsessed with cowl necks (1 and 2). So of course I had made ichigogirl’s cowl neck dress (link to the free pattern). However, it is a rather risqué neckline for everyday wear. Therefore I decided to draft my own, based on my knit sloper and a tutorial by Lakshmi Rajesh. While I have never blogged about them, I have made several shirts with this pattern. One of them has had several cameo appearances on the blog already (it’s the flowery top in my birthday post).

I had meant to make this nebula shirt ever since I bought the fabric, but the news about Voyager 1 has given me the needed kick in the behind to finally make it. While it’s a simple make, I think the nebula fabric makes this something special and worthy of a celebratory shirt.

And just for the fun of it:

You GO Voyager!

P.S: The title is of course inspired by the Star Trek Enterprise opening Monologue. I thought it fitting, as Voyager plays a rather important role in one of the films…

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Lazylinchen

I'm an ex-librarian, English master, mum to two boys, and wive to a genius. I like to cook, sew, bake, knit, and DIY in general.
I mostly live in central Finland and am always happy to meet new people (online and off).
You can contact me at lazylinchen (at) gmail (dot) com